Cardinals Must Flip This Narrative

On paper, the Arizona Cardinals' 2025 schedule appears to be a bit on the lighter side, compared to previous years. One cannot account entirely for how teams across the NFL will perform up to expectations, but Arizona's upcoming opponents had collectively the seventh-worst record in 2024.

So that means that, coupled with an offseason's worth of major improvement, the Cardinals should be able to stack some wins and potentially seriously improve from their prior 8-9 record.

They get a slate of weaker opponents to open the year, facing the Saints, Panthers, Titans and Colts in the first six weeks. Then, they'll see the Cowboys, Jaguars and Falcons in the latter half.

Much can be written and debated about which teams are more beatable than others. The NFC West is a tough division to compete in, and some of their weaker-looking opponents may end up surprising after all.

But one narrative needs to be flipped: The Cardinals have historically struggled down the stretch of seasons, and that needs to change in year three of Jonathan Gannon.

Though Arizona's schedule does get tougher after their week-eight bye, there must be some tangible improvement from 2024. After their bye the previous season, they went a dismal 2-5.

That trend harkens back to 2021 under Kliff Kingsbury, when they began 10-2 and finished 11-6, going 1-4 in the final five weeks, with playoff implications at every turn.

So the Cardinals will need to find a way to change that in 2025, regardless of who they face. Granted, they'll see some tougher opponents in their 10 post-bye games. It will ultimately come down to execution, but an above-.500 record in that stretch would go a long way toward inspiring confidence from fans, and fostering a culture of competitiveness.

Arizona has already taken great lengths to improve that internal culture, and GM Monti Ossenfort brought in an immense amount of talent in the offseason. If ever there was a time to turn it on and develop into a true playoff contender, it's 2025, and they'll need to find a way to finish strong to dispell some of those valid concerns.